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Tales
From The Grave
Directed By Stephanie Beaton
Released: 2003
Starring: Joe Estevez, Stephanie Beaton, Tony Olivas, Matt Schwarz
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Released By Brain Damage Films 2005
The old crone (Lindsey Goodall) introduces four tales of horror from
inside her tomb. In the first story, “Crazy Gunderman”, two guys decide to
give the town crazy (and local doomsayer) a taste of his own medicine. In
“Hercaylac”, Vinnie (Joe Estevez) tries to get away from it all out in the
woods but finds himself in the clutches of a witch. “Lab Rats” tells the
tale of John (Vinnie Bilancio) who wakes up in a nondescript building with
white walls and no way out only to discover that he isn’t alone. Finally,
in “The Billywack”, a young couple discovers that the woods are a deadly
place to park your car for a midnight make-out session.
Scream Queen Stephanie Beaton (The Bagman, Evil In The Bayou)
directs this indie horror anthology. The camera work is good and the sound
is decent, although a scene in the car between Joe Estevez and Robert
Herrera (as Hank the biker) is completely indiscernible. Performances are
fair and the script is good, although I had a hard time taking any of the
dialogue in “Crazy Gunderman” seriously (“I got skills now”). My favorite
moment is when Joe Estevez freaks out, screams like a little girl, and
throws his typewriter out the window. It’s also nice to see the gorgeous
Beaton in a small role in the film as well.
Tales From The Grave suffers most from it’s pacing. At nearly 2
hours, the film strains to make its running time. There are several
repetitious scenes during “Crazy Gunderman” where Todd and Mike are just
wandering around in the woods. And there is also some interminable footage
of Vinnie in “Hercaylac” hanging out in his cabin out in the woods. These
moments are intended to build tension but just don’t work.
In the end, Tales From The Grave is a decent indie horror outing.
Viewers with above average patience will make it through the slower scenes
and find the film’s hidden entertainment value. “Hercaylac” (once it gets
moving) and “Lab Rats” are the most fun of the four stories. While “The
Billywack” is straight and to the point, “Crazy Gunderman” is overlong and
painful to endure. Despite these flaws, there is definitely a great deal
of promise here. Hopefully, director/producer/actress/writer Stephanie
Beaton and her crew will do better with Tales From The Grave 2: Happy
Holidays.
DVD Specs:
Tales From The Grave looks just fine in its full frame
presentation. Sound quality is decent although there are some scenes where
dialogue is hard to understand, probably due to the source material. There
is a trailer for Tales From The Grave and one for Bagman on
the disc but there are no other extras.
For more information check out
Brain Damage
Films.
Or
Silver Moon Productions.
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